2 sets of 1 discussion and 2 replies

  

Alternative Choice Decisions
With alternative choice decisions, managers seek to choose the alternative most likely to accomplish the objectives of the organization. In addition to ROI, discuss other business objectives that may be important in the choice of the best alternative.

Submission Instructions:

Any written explanations should use complete sentences, and appropriate grammar, punctuation, spelling and word usage.
Your initial post should be at 200-300 words, formatted and cited in current APA style with support from at least 2 academic sources. Your initial post is worth 8 points.
You should respond to at least two of your peers by extending, refuting/correcting, or adding additional nuance to their posts. Your reply posts are worth 2 points (1 point per response.) 
All replies must be constructive and use literature where possible.

Post by classmate 1
 
With alternative choice decisions, managers seek to choose the alternative most likely to accomplish the objectives of the organization. In addition to ROI, discuss other business objectives that may be important in the choice of the best alternative.
The obvious objective of any business is to be profitable.  Managers are tasked with ROI, but also decisions that align with the strategy of the organization.  These alternate decision choices are critical in the success and failure and can have long term effects.
Some critical decisions are, the decision to “buy or make” products, increase or decrease production volume levels, pursuing or reducing sales in different markets or region, expand facilities or reduce; the challenges are infinite.  The decisions and consequences can be beneficial or detrimental to the organization.  The manager must involve others in the organization for their input.  Team members may hear the same message in the strategy but may interpret it differently.  The key is to have open group discussions to formulate a plan to accomplish the goal and data gathering, so informed solutions can be attained.
In meeting with groups for alternate decision making a plan must be put in place.  The plan should consist of the following:
Planning

Define objectives precisely.
Identify and quantify available and potential resources.
Write a specific business financial plan.

Budgeting

Help the company function with financial efficiency, and reduced waste.
Identify areas that incur the most operating costs, or exceed the budgeted cost.
Ensure sufficient liquidity to cover operating expenses without tapping external resources.
Uncover areas where a firm may invest earnings to achieve goals more effectively.

Managing and Assessing Risk

Identify, analyze, and mitigate uncertainty in investment decisions.
Evaluate the potential for financial exposure; examine capital expenditures (CapEx) and workplace policies.
Employ risk metrics such as standard deviation, and value-at-risk (VaR) strategies.

Establishing Ongoing Procedures

Collect and analyze data.
Make financial decisions that are consistent.
Track and analyze variance—that is, differences between budgeted and actual results.
Identify problems and take appropriate corrective actions. (Kenton, 2019)

The key to any decision or alternate decision is risk versus reward and how it effects the organization, stakeholders, and shareholders.  There is no “one size fits all”, so it is imperative that internal decision makers are in congruence to make decisions that align with the strategy because “any” decision can have both short term and long term effects to profitability and organizational reputation.  Looking at alternatives is beneficial to an organization.
References
Anthony, R., Hawkins, D. Merchant, K. (2011) Accounting: Text and Cases. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin
Hawkins, D. (2006, January), Alternate Choice Decision Analysis. Harvard Business School
Retrieved from:
https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=32937 (Links to an external site.)
Kenton, W. (2019, May 3) Strategic Financial Management            Retrieved from:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/strategic-financial-management.asp (Links to an external site.)
Bragg,S. (2018 March 2), Problems Caused By Budgeting               Retrieved From:
https://www.accountingtools.com/articles/the-problems-caused-by-budgeting.html

Post by classmate 2
 
Return on Investments (ROI) is the main objective that influences the choice of alternative business decisions. ROI evaluates the efficiency of a particular investment. Comparing the efficiency of different investments enables managers to ascertain which has the best level of efficiency and thus pick it. However, sometimes cost objectives also influence business decisions; the alternative that promises the best ROI may not be the best for a business if cost objectives are factored in. When the objective is to minimize costs, a business may select the alternative that is least costly over one that has the highest ROI. The cost factor is important when a business has a limited budget (Bolland and Lopes, 2018).
Corporate culture also influences the choice of the decision taken. When making a decision, managers must consider the impact of those decisions on the business’s corporate culture. Before making a strategic decision, managers must evaluate each alternative’s compatibility with the company’s culture. The decision taken should be compatible with the entity’s culture. When there is a mismatch between the culture and a strategic choice, an organization must redefine the culture or the decision made to ensure they are in-tune (Williams, 2002).
Baker (2018) asserts that managers must consider the ease of implementation of each alternative. For example, although a particular investment may have the highest ROI, it could be very difficult to implement. The goal of many businesses is to expand in the future. Thus, one objective in making a decision when confronted with choices is to consider the ease of scalability of the alternative selected. Besides, the flexibility of the alternative should be considered. For example, businesses desire projects they can modify or scale depending on the economic trends or customer preferences.
When choosing between alternative decisions, competitor reaction should also be considered. A business must consider the potential action its competitors will take, their capacity to react, and the effect of their reaction on the company’s business. It would be unwise for mangers of a business not to consider the possibility of competitors reacting to their rival’s strategic decision (Bolland and Lopes, 2018).
References
Baker, A. J. (2018). Business decision making. Routledge.
Bolland, E. J., & Lopes, C. J. (2018). Decision Making and Business Performance. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Williams, S. W. (2002). Making better business decisions: Understanding and improving critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications.